Month: August 2018

Heidi Heitkamp just introduced legislation to redistribute revenue gained from President Trump’s tariffs and give it to farmers and ranchers.

If you’re looking for a vocal critic of Heitkamp’s bill, look no further than Heitkamp herself. When President Trump’s Administration in July announced its trade assistance package to protect farmers and ranchers from China’s retaliation, Heitkamp was one of the first to criticize the plan, saying, “At the end of the day, farmers don’t want a check, they want a market.”

“Heidi Heitkamp is once again playing politics with North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “This new bill is nothing more than a political prop to attack President Trump and her opponent. What the agricultural community wants more than anything is a Senator who will fight for them instead of using them to score political points.”

Heitkamp supported an amendment that gave permanent residence for illegal immigrants without funding a border wall.

Heitkamp votedthreetimes against cracking down on dangerous sanctuary cities that put our citizens and law enforcement officers at risk.

Now that she’s trying to rewrite history with this election year spin, it’s clear the only person Heidi Heitkamp has “always worked for” is herself.

“With the election just around the corner, Heidi Heitkamp is frantically trying to rewrite her liberal, out-of-touch voting record,” said North Dakota Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “By repeatedly supporting sanctuary cities and failing to combat illegal immigration, Heitkamp has let North Dakotans down and failed to represent their interests during her time in the Senate.”

Yesterday Kevin Cramer’s campaign called on Heidi Heitkamp to pull her misleading ad from the airwaves.

Unsurprisingly, Heitkamp’s campaign declined to do the right thing and has since doubled down on their desperate spin. Anchor Chris Berg said it best: “They are now continuing to perpetuate false and misleading information to you, the North Dakota voter.” Click here to check out his full segment.

Stretching the truth is nothing new for Senator Heitkamp. Her team previously tried and failed to claim Cramer was lying about travel reimbursements. They’ve also worked to rewrite her record on immigration by claiming she’s always supported a border wall, even though she’s voted against it, spoken out against it, and campaigned against it.

Given these constant fabrications and purposeful distortions of the truth, North Dakota voters have to wonder if they can trust anything Senator Heitkamp says at all.

Kevin Cramer and Heidi Heitkamp penned dueling Farm Bill op-eds for the Bismarck Tribune and the contrast with Heitkamp’s op-ed could not be more clear.

While Kevin Cramer focused solely on North Dakota’s farmers, Heidi Heitkamp seems exclusively focused on Kevin Cramer. Look no further than the fact that Heitkamp’s piece criticized Cramer more times than she used the word “farmer.” Heitkamp also attacked President Trump’s supported version of the farm bill, wrongly calling its commonsense reforms “poison pills” that would create a “burdensome bureaucracy.”

Her dark and divisive tone comes amidst a recentslewofbadnews for Heitkamp, who used this op-ed to yet again play politics with North Dakota’s agriculture community. Heitkamp has devoted her entire campaign to stoking fear into North Dakota’s farmers and previously called a win for them “politics at its worst.” These are not actions North Dakotans want from their Senators.

Unlike the relentlessly negative rhetoric of Heitkamp, Kevin Cramer’s op-ed focused on the substance of the bills and the work the House accomplished. He also notes his position on the important issues in the bill came directly from conversations with constituents, saying, “I have always believed the best solutions to our nation’s problems don’t come from Washington, they come from people that walk our streets and plow the fields in North Dakota.”

Here’s some good news for North Dakota! Our state’s entire delegation was appointed to serve on the 2018 Farm Bill Conference Committee. I am honored to join Sen. John Hoeven and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in representing the interests of North Dakota in this very important process. This rare achievement is politics at its best and will serve North Dakota well. I look forward to meeting with all the conferees to hammer out our differences and produce legislation worthy of our hard-working farmers and ranchers.

The choice between the House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill is really good versus good. Neither is that far off from one another on the conservation title or commodity titles; and, both bills maintain the status quo for crop insurance as well as the sugar program.

Along with reauthorizing these important programs, the House version of the Farm Bill repealed the onerous Waters of the U.S. rule. Although North Dakota and 23 other states continue to benefit from a stay of WOTUS while the rule is being litigated, the 26 remaining states are once again under its yoke thanks to a decision by a South Carolina court. Notwithstanding the skill demonstrated by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem in leading the litigation fight, the recent South Carolina decision reinforces the need to legislatively stop this extreme environmental regulation.

As our farmers know all too well, former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s implementation of the Agriculture Risk Coverage Program was materially harmful to too many of our producers, and only exacerbated by his refusal to correct his mistakes. Thankfully, we have a new sheriff in town, as clearly demonstrated by Secretary Sonny Perdue’s visit to Fargo just this past March and his discussion of this and other topics important to North Dakota. My bill, H.R. 4654, which is a part of the House Farm Bill, simply requires the secretary to prioritize average county yield data from the Risk Management Agency over the National Agricultural Statistics Service where such RMA policies are offered.

Unfortunately, Swampbuster, like WOTUS, is notorious regulation many of our farmers and ranchers know too well. My legislation, which is included in the House version of the Farm Bill, requires USDA to define minimal wetland thresholds within six months, and must apply them before they can allege wetland conversions against our producers. Hopefully we can reintroduce some common sense to this onerous policy.

Due to conversations with constituents, Commissioner Doug Goehring and I, along with representatives of the RMA, spoke with ranchers about problems associated with the pasture, rangeland, and forage crop insurance instrument. The common denominator was lack of rainfall data. As a result, I had included within the House Farm Bill a requirement for RMA and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to evaluate the coverage considering alternative data collection methods to improve this lack of data.

As any producer can tell you, access to capital is key to any robust operation. Both the House and the Senate versions of the Farm Bill reauthorize the Farm Services Agency’s Loan Guarantee Program. Additionally, the House version increases the Farm Ownership and Operating Loan Program loan limits from $700,000 to $1,750,000.

I’m looking forward to working through this process to create a Farm Bill that provides much-needed long-term certainty for our ag community. My priorities are to maintain crop insurance protections and the sugar program along with improving ARC, repealing WOTUS and getting Swampbuster back on track.

Many of these important issues were brought to my attention during my travels across North Dakota and in my talk radio town halls. I have always believed the best solutions to our nation’s problems don’t come from Washington, they come from people that walk our streets and plow the fields in North Dakota.

Heidi Heitkamp had another objectively horrible week in her failing Senate campaign, but don’t just take my word for it. Here’s a Monday-Friday rundown from this week that’s left many leading strategists wondering if she can recover…

Monday

Kevin Cramer unveiled a new ad highlighting Heidi Heitkamp’s repeated support for sanctuary cities, which has left North Dakotans unsafe.

Cramer was then awarded the “Defender of Small Business Award” by the Job Creators Network for supporting the largest tax cut in history, a cut that gave a family of four in North Dakota savings of more than $2,700 per year.

Cramer finished his day by making himself accessible to his constituents, going door-to-door in Grand Forks.

Tuesday

National Review released an in-depth look at Heitkamp’s record as a liberal Democrat who is out of touch with her constituents. The article highlights her votes against:

tax cuts

border fencing

defunding sanctuary cities

a 20-week abortion ban

repealing and replacing Obamacare

several of President Trump’s judicial nominees

Heitkamp supporter Chase Iron Eyes accepted a plea agreement on felony charges for his part in the Dakota Access Pipeline #NoDAPL protests. Senator Heitkamp previously hosted a fundraiser with Iron Eyes in her luxurious DC home, but she won’t be able to do that again any time soon.

*This is where Heitkamp’s bad week gets a lot worse.*

Wednesday

Republican leaders gathered to set the recordstraight on health care while highlighting the disaster Obamacare has been for North Dakota. Under this disastrous law that Heitkamp is running on, premiums have skyrocketed, the same number are uninsured, and the burden of cost has shiftedonto the backs of our farmers and small businesses.

Heidi Heitkamp in response hastily threw together her less-accessible version of a press conference- a teleconference- where she angrily attacked North Dakota’s Insurance Commissioner for pointing out her claims on health care are “irresponsible at best.” (They are).

Heitkamp then dismissed sanctuary cities, a deeply important issue for North Dakota voters, as just a “scare tactic.”

Reports also emerged, showing the tax cuts Heitkamp opposed are projected to give North Dakotans $34 million in bonus tax relief.

Heidi Heitkamp continued to receive more pressure from her liberal base to oppose SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

To end the day, Heitkamp tried to help her friend Elizabeth Warren gain a victory against President Trump by announcing she will vote against another of the President’s executive nominees. Heitkamp’s history of obstruction will not sit well with voters in November.

Sec. Ross: “They’re hoping to put enough political pressure on the president that he’ll back off and they’ll never again have to deal with America trying to get free, fair and reciprocal trade. That’s the only Achilles heel that we have, is any sign of weakness to these other countries.”

Dep. Sec. Censky: “It has to be the right resolution” to end this trade dispute.

Rep. Cramer: “There are some people cheerleading for that exact situation, a downturn in the economy would be very good for them politically.”

Remember “scare tactic?” The Editorial Board of the Grand Forks Herald does, and they strongly rebuked Heidi Heitkamp’s approach in a scathing editorial writing, “Illegal immigration is a great problem in the United States, and efforts should be made to slow the tide of people entering the country illegally.”

This isn’t the only issue where Heitkamp is on the wrong side of North Dakotans. Heitkamp AGAIN doubled down on her pro-abortion stance, voting against defunding Planned Parenthood.

Heitkamp’s liberal record was rewarded later that night with a fundraiser alongside her boss Chuck Schumer.

Now, Heidi Heitkamp’s false narrative on trade is being further damaged by the hour.

The Washington Examiner’s David Drucker released a report saying, “Voters here back the president’s trade policies in principle, if not completely in execution, and are willing to give him some space to negotiate.”

Reuters reported President Trump’s efforts on trade are working: “His hard line has rattled Beijing and spurred rare criticism within the highest levels of China’s ruling Communist Party over its handling of the trade dispute, sources have said. Beijing has denied U.S. allegations it systematically forces the unfair transfer of U.S. technology and has said it adheres to World Trade Organization rules.”

In her recent, misleading ad, Heitkamp states: “Like 300,000 North Dakotans, Denise has a pre-existing condition. That used to mean no health insurance.”

Welp, turns out that is wrong, and the Associated Pressjust called Heitkamp out for it, saying she “overstates the number who wouldn’t have been able to get health insurance.” Heitkamp and her campaign is now trying to walk back the ad, but with such a gross misuse of information, one has to wonder if North Dakotans can trust anything she says.

“Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign is nothing more than misleading statistics and over-the-top rhetoric,” said North Dakota Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “As many have noted, Heitkamp’s campaign is centered around making voters feel fearful, and it’s clear she’ll say anything, no matter how false, to try and make that happen.”

Their visit comes at the request of Rep. Kevin Cramer, who believes in putting politics aside to help rural North Dakotans. Part of that effort is to put high-ranking administration officials in front of North Dakota’s farmers, ranchers, and producers — which he’s fulfilling again today.

This is in stark contrast to Heidi Heitkamp, who’s fought tooth and nail against this administration’s agricultural policies. A pillarof Heitkamp’s campaign strategy is fanning the flames of farmer’s fears. Meanwhile, she attackedthe last Commerce official to visit North Dakota, failedto deliver on a WOTUS rule repeal, claimsPresident Trump’s endorsed Farm Bill has “poison pills,” and had her campaign calla win for North Dakota’s farmers “politics at its worst” because it could hurt her re-election chances.

Those are not the actions of someone North Dakotans want to see re-elected. As Cramer saidin a recent op-ed, “The best way now to serve North Dakota is to offer solutions, not sound bites.” Clearly Heidi Heitkamp is focused on the opposite.

“Heidi Heitkamp is wrong for North Dakota’s farmers, ranchers, and producers,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “Kevin Cramer has successfully brought leading administration officials to the table to give North Dakotans a voice, something Heitkamp has failed to do. Her obstructionist tactics and harmful rhetoric- at the detriment of the agricultural community- won’t be forgotten this November.”

Despite Heidi Heitkamp’s record that shows otherwise, combatting illegal immigration is a top issue for North Dakota voters.

Look no further than the Editorial Board of the Grand Forks Herald, which writes, “Immigrants who come to the U.S. through the proper channels and who follow our laws should be welcomed. We have work for them, and they should be able to live here in peace as part of our communities. Those who do not come here legally should be turned away. Illegal immigration is a great problem in the United States, and efforts should be made to slow the tide of people entering the country illegally.” The editorial continues saying bluntly, “It’s about laws, and laws should not be ignored.”

Senator Heitkamp needs to answer for her persistent unwillingness to combat illegal immigration, having voted three times to support illegal sanctuary cities. When confronted with her record of failure, Heidi Heitkamp dismissed the issue as a “scare tactic.”

She’s wrong.

Heitkamp should talk with the families and victims terrorized by criminal illegal immigrants before attempting to dismiss this issue as just a Republican scare tactic.

An illegal alien is accused of abducting and killing Mollie Tibbets, the young Iowa woman who was missing for weeks before her body was found Tuesday, Aug. 21, in a cornfield. The suspect, 24-year-old Cristhian Rivera, is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.

Get ready, because illegal immigration is about to reignite as a hot issue, especially with the midterm elections fewer than three months away.

Actually, it’s OK to question the influx of illegal immigrants in the United States. Perhaps it shouldn’t be ratcheted up after a single, sad murder because no matter what happens, there will always be some — although hopefully far fewer — illegal aliens in the U.S. However, if there was more control of illegal immigration, there is some likelihood that Tibbets would still be alive.

It’s important to note that some studies show illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes per-capita than native-born citizens. As reported earlier this summer in the Washington Post, one study — conducted by the Cato Institute — examined conviction data from 2015 in Texas. The study concluded that “as a percentage of their respective populations, there were 56 percent fewer criminal convictions of illegal immigrants than of native-born Americans in Texas in 2015.” The Post also reported another study determined states with larger shares of illegal immigrants tended to have lower crime rates than states with smaller shares from 1990 to 2014.

Take those conclusions with a grain of salt, because some believe the Post has lost its objectivity regarding conservatism and President Trump, who seeks immigration reform.

Studies noted, we return to the point: Tibbetts might be alive today with better immigration laws.

In our view, the president was elected in large part due to national frustration that little has been done about an obvious immigration problem. Some estimates show there are more than 10 million people — more than the population of New York City — living illegally in the United States, costing U.S. taxpayers approximately $8,000 apiece. Although these figures are debated to death by experts on both sides of the issue, estimates show the impact of illegal immigrants to Americans is between $60 billion and $116 billion annually.

Some say illegal immigrants fill a void and work at jobs that otherwise would go unfilled. Some say they are a boon to the economy.

Perhaps. Yet they still are here illegally, siphoning away tax dollars, and they just shouldn’t be.

It’s about laws, and laws should not be ignored.

A merit-based immigration system similar to Canada’s should be the goal for the United States. In the wake of the Tibbetts murder, Congress should take advantage of this heightened concern to consider a Canadian-style immigration reform.

This isn’t racist. Immigrants who come to the U.S. through the proper channels and who follow our laws should be welcomed. We have work for them, and they should be able to live here in peace as part of our communities. Those who do not come here legally should be turned away.

Illegal immigration is a great problem in the United States, and efforts should be made to slow the tide of people entering the country illegally.

Chase Iron Eyes, North Dakota’s 2016 Democrat U.S. House nominee and high-profile Heidi Heitkamp supporter, accepted a plea agreement on felony charges for his part in the Dakota Access Pipeline #NoDAPL protests that put North Dakotans and law enforcement in harms way.

REMINDER: Senator Heitkamp hosted a fundraiser for Iron Eyes in her luxurious DC home before donating $2,000 to his failed 2016 campaign and voting for him during the Democrat state convention.

Heitkamp has now tried to distance herself from Iron Eyes, but during her first Senate campaign, she was “so proud to have his support.” Is she still?

What is perhaps the last high-profile criminal case from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests is all but over.

Attorney and North Dakota’s 2016 Democratic-NPL U.S. House nominee Chase Iron Eyes has accepted a plea agreement with Morton County prosecutors Bryan Grosinger and Chase Lingle. Iron Eyes was charged last year with felony inciting a riot and misdemeanor criminal trespass related to protest activities on Feb. 1, 2017, in erecting a camp on pipeline land in southern Morton County.

Under conditions of the plea agreement, prosecutors have moved to amend felony inciting a riot to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, as well as dismiss misdemeanor criminal trespass.

The plea agreement also includes a 360-day deferred imposition, during which Iron Eyes must commit no criminal violations and pay a $1,500 fine and $350 in court fees.

If, after that 360 days, Iron Eyes has successfully completed those terms, the case will be cleared from his record.

The plea agreement filed Tuesday awaits Surrogate Judge Lee Christofferson’s OK. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, he had not issued a related order.

In a statement, Iron Eyes remarked that the plea agreement includes no incarceration or risk to his license to practice law.

“The world should know that it’s legally impossible for me and other Native people to trespass on treaty land, and I never started a riot. I and the water protectors are not terrorists. We and the U.S. veterans who stood with us to protect Mother Earth are the true patriots,” he said.

“Now I can be with my family and continue defending the sovereignty of my people. This will allow me to keep working nonstop to protect First Amendment, human and Native rights.”

Grosinger and Lingle were unavailable to comment at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

As of Wednesday, 18 of the 831 state-level criminal cases from the DAPL protests were open, according to South Central Judicial District trial court administrator Donna Wunderlich. About 90 cases are inactive with warrants. About 700 cases have been adjudicated.

Iron Eyes had intended to argue for a “necessity defense,” invoking his belief that the threat of the pipeline left him no choice but to commit civil disobedience. A nine-day jury trial had been set to begin in November.

Bismarck, ND– Republican leaders today gathered at the Bismarck Farm Bureau location to dispute Democrats’ false claims and to reaffirm their position regarding the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and pre-existing conditions. Despite repeated fear-mongering attacks from Democrats, Republican leaders made it clear they have always supported the inclusion of coverage for pre-existing conditions in healthcare reform and that the current state of healthcare does not benefit North Dakotans.

Congressman Kevin Cramer, Lieutenant Governor Brent Sanford, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread and State Senator Kelly Armstrong all spoke in support of keeping pre-existing conditions available but reiterated that Obamacare is failing North Dakotans.

Before Obamacare, 8 to 10 percent of North Dakotans were uninsured. Today, that number remains relatively unchanged at 8 percent demonstrating how Obamacare has failed in the state. While more individuals may be covered under Medicaid, the rising costs of healthcare, which have doubled in four years, have only made it more difficult for those who do not qualify for Medicaid to afford insurance, including farmers, ranchers and small business owners.

The participants of today’s press conference issued the following joint statement:

“Democrats continue to push a big lie and we can’t stand for it. The only group talking about eliminating coverage for pre-existing conditions are the Democrats. There is no denying, the current state of healthcare needs fixing, and every Republican proposal that has been advanced has included guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions. We need a system that covers all North Dakotans, and that doesn’t shift the burden of rising premiums to our farmers, ranchers and small business owners.”

Speaking in support of Republicans were two North Dakota farmers and one small business owner. Tom Christensen of Verona and Weston Dvorak of Manning are both farmers and Marv Miller owns Twin City Roofing in Mandan. They all shared their stories or how rising premiums due to Obamacare has made it difficult for them to afford insurance for their families or employees.

Republicans pointed out the fact that the Comprehensive Health Association of North Dakota (CHAND) has always – and will continue to cover high risk North Dakotan’s. Additionally, under Graham Cassidy the state will not only receive more money to fund the high-risk population, but providers will have more flexibility in how they deliver healthcare.

Leaders also reiterated that Obamacare is unconstitutional, and that North Dakota will continue to participate in the federal lawsuit challenging that fact.